A Lemming Hunt

I’d promised Maura months ago that we would hunt lemmings this summer. We don’t want to kill any, of course. We just want to find them. Our hope is to spot one, or at least see some evidence of their presence. We’ve both of us done our research. There certainly are lemmings in Massachusetts. The Southern Bog Lemming lives in the Commonwealth. As its name suggests it inhabits bogs. It is not an easy animal to see because it lives in runs at the base of the bog vegetation and rarely comes out of cover but if you look closely it is possible to find signs of its presence in the form of distinctive green droppings and little piles of clipped off sedges.

This lemming hunt took us to an out of the way corner of the Blue Hills Reservation in Braintree. It’s cut off from the rest of the reservation by Interstate 93 and doesn’t get many visitors. We didn’t see anyone while we were there. We hiked for most of an hour. Unfortunately we didn’t see any lemmings either. On the map there appeared to be a road leading through a wetland that might be good lemming habitat. The road is there, and the wetland, but there is no way to see the wetland from the road through the dense curtain of trees and bushes that borders it.

As a lemming hunt the trip was a bust but Maura and I did have a nice hike together. We’ll go looking for lemmings again soon. The next time we will try the boardwalk on Ponkapoag Pond, which I’m certain will lead us over some likely lemming habitat and get might us close enough that we can see the signs.